Cheat Sheet

Canon EOS 5D Mark III For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Your Canon EOS 5D Mark III is an incredible digital camera with a ton of controls and options. Use this Cheat Sheet to quickly review the controls, shooting modes, menus, and picture styles that the EOS 5D Mark III has to offer.

Shooting Mode Quick Reference for the Canon 5D Mark III

The Canon 5D Mark III has enough shooting modes for photographers of all experience levels. For point-and-shoot photography, set the camera to Scene Intelligent Auto mode and let the camera handle most of the work for you. Choose an advanced shooting mode (P, Av, Tv, M, B, or a Custom mode) to take more control for yourself.

This table gives you some information on each mode:

Name

Description

Scene Intelligent Auto

The 5D Mark III’s fully automatic shooting mode. Use it to turn
control over to the camera. Great for when you’re learning about
your camera and photography or when you need to transfer the
workload to the camera so that you can relax and have fun.

P (Program AE)

Think of Program AE (AE stands for auto exposure) mode as a
bridge between Scene Intelligent Auto and the more manual shooting
modes. Although the camera determines the exposure settings, you
have much more control over different functions, such as the AF
mode, metering, and so forth. You can also shift the program by
changing which combination of aperture and shutter speed the camera
uses in a given situation.

Tv (Shutter-Priority AE)

In this mode, you set the shutter speed and the camera works
around that setting to get the right exposure. In all other
aspects, the camera is under your full control. Good for sports,
action, and when you are moving.

Av (Aperture-Priority AE)

This mode is similar to the Tv Shooting mode except that you
set the aperture. Good for portraits, landscapes, and
close-ups.

M (Manual exposure)

You are responsible for all exposure settings.

B (Bulb)

This special shooting mode (known as Bulb) opens the shutter
for as long as you hold the Shutter button down.

C1-C3

These are Custom Shooting modes. They enable you to save camera
settings in any of the three dial positions for recall later.

Menu Categories on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Canon includes a number of important menus in its 5D Mark III digital camera. You use these menus to set up the camera, as well as to configure and customize it to shoot the way you want it to. Here are the major categories of menus and what they do:

Shooting: These five menu pages (Shooting Menu 1 through Shooting Menu 5) are dedicated to shooting settings, including image quality, mirror lockup, ISO speed settings, Auto Lighting Optimizer, and Picture Style. Live View and Movie modes each have their own dedicated Shooting menu.

AF: The AF (autorfocus) menu has five pages devoted to listing just about every autofocus option that you would ever want to adjust.

Playback: Playback has three pages of menus. You protect, rotate, erase, print, copy, resize, and process images here, set up slide shows, and more!

Setup: Setup consists of four pages of menus that have various setup options.

Custom Functions: The Custom Functions (advanced options) are grouped together in this menu. They are divided into Exposure, Display/Operation, Others, and Clear categories.

My Menu: The 5D Mark III enables you to create your own custom menu containing up to six items from the camera’s other menus. Set it up and use it here.

Canon EOS Mark III: Using Picture Styles

The 5D Mark III has a number of Picture Styles that you can use to process your photos in-camera. Each predefined style has different color, saturation contrast, and sharpening settings:

Style

Description

Auto

In this case, the camera applies the photo style (but not
monochrome) it thinks is appropriate to the scene. Mileage may vary
from photo to photo.

Standard

The default setting, this option promises sharp images with
good contrast and strong colors.